In brief
- South Park’s next episode, “Conflict of Interest,” will center on a prediction market app taking over the kids’ school.
- Real prediction markets like Myriad and Polymarket are letting users bet on which words or topics will appear in the episode, which is set to air tonight.
- The current season of South Park has stirred controversy over its depiction of figures like Charlie Kirk and President Donald Trump.
In the midst of a headline-grabbing season that’s taken aim at all manner of timely and controversial subjects, South Park has found its latest target: prediction markets.
The latest episode of the hit animated series, due to air Wednesday night, will center on prediction markets and their incessant popularity among young people, Comedy Central announced earlier today.
The episode, titled “Conflict of Interest,” will specifically center on a rift that emerges between characters Cartman and Kyle when a popular prediction market app takes over their school.
Already, and perhaps proving the point of the show’s creators, crypto-backed prediction markets have jumped on the opportunity to financialize the finer points of tonight’s episode.
One Myriad market currently has odds at 31.7% that the episode will mention an existing prediction market—either Myriad itself, Polymarket, or Kalshi—by name. Roughly $11,400 has been wagered on the bet as of this writing. (Disclaimer: Myriad is a product of Decrypt’s parent company, DASTAN.)
On Polymarket, users are wagering on the likelihood that other certain words are mentioned in the show tonight, including “predict” or “prediction” 10-plus times (71% odds), “Broncos” (49% odds), “Trump” three-plus times (45% odds) and “dildo” (55% odds).
Despite the connectivity between prediction markets and cryptocurrency—which fuels the backend of platforms like Polymarket and Myriad)—odds of South Park mentioning “crypto” or “Bitcoin” tonight currently stand at only 31%. The market has so far accumulated only $2,000 in volume.
Based on photos released by Comedy Central earlier today, tonight’s South Park episode will continue to depict a fictional plotline involving President Donald Trump’s ongoing love affair with, and recent impregnation of, Satan.
Though South Park has long embraced controversy in its 28-year run, its recent skewering of the Trump administration has received particular attention given recent tensions between the White House and major broadcasters over freedom of speech.
Last week, ABC suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely after the head of Trump’s FTC threatened to revoke the network’s broadcasting license over comments Kimmel made about the alleged killer of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s show returned Tuesday evening, though some regional stations refused to air it.
Paramount, which owns Comedy Central, also appears to be making moves to avoid political controversy. Days after Kirk’s killing, the studio opted to pull an episode of South Park from earlier this season that mocked the podcaster and his engagements on college campuses.
Could South Park’s antics risk the entire show being pulled off the air in the current political climate? There’s a market for that, too. Kalshi says the odds sit currently at just 7%.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/341133/south-park-prediction-markets-traders-already-betting
